Book Review: Viking Art by David M. Wilson and Ole Klindt-Jensen

and industries, such as meatpacking, milling, cattle and sheep raising, stocks and
bonds, building and oil. He helped to finance Swedish contractor Gust Newberg
over a long period and saw Henry Crown through the Depression. His
relationship with Crown included a half-million dollar loan for a quarry that
became the largest centrally located waste pit in Chicago and a $3 million loan
for control by Crown of the Empire State Building in New York.
In every financial arrangement Anderson was adamant on the question of
conflict of interest and the acceptance of personal favors. He was frank in his"
opinions and had a reputation for uncovering discrepancies in financial
statements and sensing weaknesses as well as strengths in corporations with
which he was negotiating.
This experience prepared him for his subsequent career as First National's oil
banker, beginning around 1930. He decided to learn the oil business for
himself, making frequent visits to the field and developing a first-hand
knowledge of the particular needs of oil production. He turned his attention to.
the independent producers who were having a rough time weathering the storms
during the Depression, and he financed with bank funds the development of new
fields in Oklahoma, Texas, and California. He made loans which other banks
would not consider; he understood the value of oil in the ground. "We pioneered
and tailored our loan agreements to meet the particular needs," he writes, "and
some unusual and innovative plans developed." In 1969 Anderson received the
American Petroleum Institute Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement.
Meanwhile a son, Robert O. Anderson, had also become a well-known figure in
the oil industry and was head of Richfield Oil Company when the merger with
Atlantic Refining Company took place in 1965. Robert is.currently chairman of
Atlantic Richfield Company and was named Swedish American of the Year at
ceremonies in Stockholm 1978.
Hugo Anderson, now ninety-three and still visiting his office at First National
each week, takes great pride in his family of four children, fifteen grandchildren
and twenty great-grandchildren, and looks back on his sixty-year marriage to
Hilda Nelson Anderson, who died in 1974, as "the great blessing of my life." He
finished writing his autobiography on his eighty-ninth birthday, and the
accomplishments of a person who values his Swedish heritage are now,
fortunately, a matter of record.
WESLEY M. WESTERBERG
E v a n s t o n , I l l i n o is
David M. Wilson and Ole Klindt-Jensen. VIKING ART. Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press, 1980. 173 pages, 80 plates, 69 figures. $29.50 (cloth), $12.95
(paper).
There has long been a need for a good, in-depth survey of Scandinavia's Late
Iron Age art. This need was partially filled in 1966 when David M. Wilson and
Ole Klindt-Jensen collaborated to produce V i k i n g A r t , a work that succeeded
admirably in examining the Scandinavian styles dating roughly from the period
between 800 and 1100 A.D. The names Wilson and Klindt-Jensen are highly
respected in the field of North European prehistory, and it was consequently no
surprise that V i k i n g A r t offered a number of fascinating insights into an inventory
of materials which, by nature of its volume and stylistic complexities, has often
defied coherent analysis. V i k i n g A r t was, and still is an excellent resource work.
161
Although Wilson and Klindt-Jensen were by no means the first scholars to
publish a survey of Viking art in English, they nevertheless set a precedent by
contending that many of the forces governing the development of Viking
aesthetics stemmed from indigenous rather than foreign traditions.
Well-documented and carefully conceived, this study cites strong eighth-century
Scandinavian influences on Viking styles such as the Oseberg, Borre, Jellinge
and Mammen. The basis for these observations is Bernhard Salin's Migrations
Style III, now generally referred to as Greta Arwidsson's subdivisions C, D and
E. Also of interest is Wilson's view that chronological overlapping and stylistic
borrowing occurred far more frequently than has earlier been supposed. This is
convincingly illustrated in his discussion of finds decorated in the Borre and
Jellinge traditions; according to Wilson, not only were these styles very similar,
but they were also more or less contemporaneous. However, the influence of one
Viking style upon another was not limited to Scandinavia. A particularly
fascinating aspect of this volume is Wilson's description of the Mammen,
Ringerike, and Urnes styles in Britain. As the author explains it, the presence and
popularity of these styles attest to a considerable Scandinavianization of English
tastes, one that in many instances spurred British artisans to adopt
wholeheartedly the trappings of a foreign and barbaric tradition.
The 1980 edition of V i k i n g A r t is a reprint of the work described above. Like
the earlier printing, the 1980 version is eminently readable and is furnished with
numerous photographs and drawings, all of which are of excellent quality. No
changes have been made in either the text or its conclusions. The fundamental
thesis remains the same, namely that the procreative forces in Viking art were the
result of internal stylistic development. Although this interpretation is generally
accepted today, many scholars have nevertheless been reluctant to cast aside
completely the older, more traditional theories which regard Viking art as being
stylistically indebted to the Carolingian and Hiberno-Saxon traditions. Here it
should be recalled that Scandinavia throughout the Late Iron Age represented
Western Europe's northernmost cultural periphery. As such, it was the recipient
of influences from societies which were often more sophisticated culturally,
socially, and economically. Wilson and Klindt-Jensen are correct when they
speak of a self-confident Viking culture. Yet, they neglect to mention that Viking
tastes were extremely eclectic, a fact that is substantiated by the multitude of
foreign sumptuary items which entered Scandinavia via trade and warfare. It
cannot, therefore, lie beyond the realm of possibility that certain stylistic
elements were imported also, just as earlier scholars have maintained. To
underestimate the Viking predilection for borrowing from the fashions and
customs observed abroad is to overlook a basic tenet of the Viking mentality.
The only alteration in the 1980 edition's format is the inclusion of a short,
updated bibliography. All the works herein represent important contributions to
the fields of Scandinavian prehistory and prehistoric art. Yet, for some reason, the
authors did not mention recent works by Greta Arwidsson (Valsgärde 7, 1977),
Wilhelm Holmqvist ( E x c a v a t i o n s at Helgö, I-IV, 1961-1972), Ella Kivikoski (Die
E i s e n z e i t F i n n l a n d s , 1973), and Birger Nerman ( D i e V e n d e l z e i t G o t l a n d s , I—II,
1969—1975). It should also be noted that a particularly relevant work by Mats
Malmer. M e t o d p r o b l e m i n o m järnålderns k o n s t h i s t o r i a , 1966, is not included in
the bibliography of either the 1966 or 1980 edition. This absence is difficult to
understand in as much as Maimer's book constitutes one of the few modern,
162
purely theoretical approaches to the question of style and typology in
Scandinavia's Iron Age art. One can assume that this work would have helped the
authors of V i k i n g A r t avoid an occasional vagueness in descriptive terminology.
For example, the expressions "naturalism" and "naturalistic" are employed over
and over again, yet without any attempt to establish a criterion for their usage.
Despite the reservations mentioned above, V i k i n g A r t , both in its first and
second printings, is an unquestionably valuable piece of scholarship. It remains
one of the best introductions to a particularly compelling area of study and as
such its authors deserve our respect and appreciation.
BRIAN MAGNUSSON
U n i v e r s i t y of W i s c o n s in
NOTES
On November 18, 1980, the Concordia Historical Institute of St. Louis
presented E m e r o y Johnson an award "for his straightforward, sympathetic and
appreciative look at the Swedish Lutheran parochial school, curriculum and
ethos in the article 'Swedish Elementary Schools in Minnesota Lutheran
Congregations' published in S P H Q , XXX:2 (July 1979), pp. 172-182."
* * #
A r k i v f y n d (Number 2, November 1980) and published by Gustavus Adolphus
College consists of Emeroy Johnson's "Social Ministry by Lutherans in
Minnesota." The article is a summary of what the Minnesota Conference of the
Augustana Synod and the later Minnesota Synod have done by way of providing
hospitals, orphanages, old people's homes, and other social services over the
years.
* * *
On September 21, 1980, Grant Dahlstrom died in Los Angeles at the age of
seventy-eight. The son of a Swedish-American Mormon blacksmith, Dahlstrom
became a printer in Utah and moved on to Southern California, where in time he
became famous as "the one who brought fine printing to Southern California."
He designed books. From 1943 on he was the owner of the Castle Press, which
had as its clients, among others, the University of Southern California, the
University of California at Los Angeles, and the Huntington Library of Pasadena.
Bengt Sigurd, ed., D e n o r d i s k a språkens f r a m t i d , Skrifter utgivna av Svenska
språknämnden, 61 (Lund: Esselte Studium, 1977), includes an essay by Nils
Hasselmo of the University of Minnesota on "De nordiska språkens situation i
Nordamerika" (pp. 103-31).
* * *
An article by Nils Hasselmo, "We Learned; Why Can't They?" appeared in the
April 1980 issue of the A u g u s t a n a C o l l e g e M a g a z i n e . It was first presented as the
banquet speech for the SPHS fall meeting at Augustana College, Rock Island,
Illinois, on 22 September 1979.
163

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and industries, such as meatpacking, milling, cattle and sheep raising, stocks and
bonds, building and oil. He helped to finance Swedish contractor Gust Newberg
over a long period and saw Henry Crown through the Depression. His
relationship with Crown included a half-million dollar loan for a quarry that
became the largest centrally located waste pit in Chicago and a $3 million loan
for control by Crown of the Empire State Building in New York.
In every financial arrangement Anderson was adamant on the question of
conflict of interest and the acceptance of personal favors. He was frank in his"
opinions and had a reputation for uncovering discrepancies in financial
statements and sensing weaknesses as well as strengths in corporations with
which he was negotiating.
This experience prepared him for his subsequent career as First National's oil
banker, beginning around 1930. He decided to learn the oil business for
himself, making frequent visits to the field and developing a first-hand
knowledge of the particular needs of oil production. He turned his attention to.
the independent producers who were having a rough time weathering the storms
during the Depression, and he financed with bank funds the development of new
fields in Oklahoma, Texas, and California. He made loans which other banks
would not consider; he understood the value of oil in the ground. "We pioneered
and tailored our loan agreements to meet the particular needs," he writes, "and
some unusual and innovative plans developed." In 1969 Anderson received the
American Petroleum Institute Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement.
Meanwhile a son, Robert O. Anderson, had also become a well-known figure in
the oil industry and was head of Richfield Oil Company when the merger with
Atlantic Refining Company took place in 1965. Robert is.currently chairman of
Atlantic Richfield Company and was named Swedish American of the Year at
ceremonies in Stockholm 1978.
Hugo Anderson, now ninety-three and still visiting his office at First National
each week, takes great pride in his family of four children, fifteen grandchildren
and twenty great-grandchildren, and looks back on his sixty-year marriage to
Hilda Nelson Anderson, who died in 1974, as "the great blessing of my life." He
finished writing his autobiography on his eighty-ninth birthday, and the
accomplishments of a person who values his Swedish heritage are now,
fortunately, a matter of record.
WESLEY M. WESTERBERG
E v a n s t o n , I l l i n o is
David M. Wilson and Ole Klindt-Jensen. VIKING ART. Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press, 1980. 173 pages, 80 plates, 69 figures. $29.50 (cloth), $12.95
(paper).
There has long been a need for a good, in-depth survey of Scandinavia's Late
Iron Age art. This need was partially filled in 1966 when David M. Wilson and
Ole Klindt-Jensen collaborated to produce V i k i n g A r t , a work that succeeded
admirably in examining the Scandinavian styles dating roughly from the period
between 800 and 1100 A.D. The names Wilson and Klindt-Jensen are highly
respected in the field of North European prehistory, and it was consequently no
surprise that V i k i n g A r t offered a number of fascinating insights into an inventory
of materials which, by nature of its volume and stylistic complexities, has often
defied coherent analysis. V i k i n g A r t was, and still is an excellent resource work.
161
Although Wilson and Klindt-Jensen were by no means the first scholars to
publish a survey of Viking art in English, they nevertheless set a precedent by
contending that many of the forces governing the development of Viking
aesthetics stemmed from indigenous rather than foreign traditions.
Well-documented and carefully conceived, this study cites strong eighth-century
Scandinavian influences on Viking styles such as the Oseberg, Borre, Jellinge
and Mammen. The basis for these observations is Bernhard Salin's Migrations
Style III, now generally referred to as Greta Arwidsson's subdivisions C, D and
E. Also of interest is Wilson's view that chronological overlapping and stylistic
borrowing occurred far more frequently than has earlier been supposed. This is
convincingly illustrated in his discussion of finds decorated in the Borre and
Jellinge traditions; according to Wilson, not only were these styles very similar,
but they were also more or less contemporaneous. However, the influence of one
Viking style upon another was not limited to Scandinavia. A particularly
fascinating aspect of this volume is Wilson's description of the Mammen,
Ringerike, and Urnes styles in Britain. As the author explains it, the presence and
popularity of these styles attest to a considerable Scandinavianization of English
tastes, one that in many instances spurred British artisans to adopt
wholeheartedly the trappings of a foreign and barbaric tradition.
The 1980 edition of V i k i n g A r t is a reprint of the work described above. Like
the earlier printing, the 1980 version is eminently readable and is furnished with
numerous photographs and drawings, all of which are of excellent quality. No
changes have been made in either the text or its conclusions. The fundamental
thesis remains the same, namely that the procreative forces in Viking art were the
result of internal stylistic development. Although this interpretation is generally
accepted today, many scholars have nevertheless been reluctant to cast aside
completely the older, more traditional theories which regard Viking art as being
stylistically indebted to the Carolingian and Hiberno-Saxon traditions. Here it
should be recalled that Scandinavia throughout the Late Iron Age represented
Western Europe's northernmost cultural periphery. As such, it was the recipient
of influences from societies which were often more sophisticated culturally,
socially, and economically. Wilson and Klindt-Jensen are correct when they
speak of a self-confident Viking culture. Yet, they neglect to mention that Viking
tastes were extremely eclectic, a fact that is substantiated by the multitude of
foreign sumptuary items which entered Scandinavia via trade and warfare. It
cannot, therefore, lie beyond the realm of possibility that certain stylistic
elements were imported also, just as earlier scholars have maintained. To
underestimate the Viking predilection for borrowing from the fashions and
customs observed abroad is to overlook a basic tenet of the Viking mentality.
The only alteration in the 1980 edition's format is the inclusion of a short,
updated bibliography. All the works herein represent important contributions to
the fields of Scandinavian prehistory and prehistoric art. Yet, for some reason, the
authors did not mention recent works by Greta Arwidsson (Valsgärde 7, 1977),
Wilhelm Holmqvist ( E x c a v a t i o n s at Helgö, I-IV, 1961-1972), Ella Kivikoski (Die
E i s e n z e i t F i n n l a n d s , 1973), and Birger Nerman ( D i e V e n d e l z e i t G o t l a n d s , I—II,
1969—1975). It should also be noted that a particularly relevant work by Mats
Malmer. M e t o d p r o b l e m i n o m järnålderns k o n s t h i s t o r i a , 1966, is not included in
the bibliography of either the 1966 or 1980 edition. This absence is difficult to
understand in as much as Maimer's book constitutes one of the few modern,
162
purely theoretical approaches to the question of style and typology in
Scandinavia's Iron Age art. One can assume that this work would have helped the
authors of V i k i n g A r t avoid an occasional vagueness in descriptive terminology.
For example, the expressions "naturalism" and "naturalistic" are employed over
and over again, yet without any attempt to establish a criterion for their usage.
Despite the reservations mentioned above, V i k i n g A r t , both in its first and
second printings, is an unquestionably valuable piece of scholarship. It remains
one of the best introductions to a particularly compelling area of study and as
such its authors deserve our respect and appreciation.
BRIAN MAGNUSSON
U n i v e r s i t y of W i s c o n s in
NOTES
On November 18, 1980, the Concordia Historical Institute of St. Louis
presented E m e r o y Johnson an award "for his straightforward, sympathetic and
appreciative look at the Swedish Lutheran parochial school, curriculum and
ethos in the article 'Swedish Elementary Schools in Minnesota Lutheran
Congregations' published in S P H Q , XXX:2 (July 1979), pp. 172-182."
* * #
A r k i v f y n d (Number 2, November 1980) and published by Gustavus Adolphus
College consists of Emeroy Johnson's "Social Ministry by Lutherans in
Minnesota." The article is a summary of what the Minnesota Conference of the
Augustana Synod and the later Minnesota Synod have done by way of providing
hospitals, orphanages, old people's homes, and other social services over the
years.
* * *
On September 21, 1980, Grant Dahlstrom died in Los Angeles at the age of
seventy-eight. The son of a Swedish-American Mormon blacksmith, Dahlstrom
became a printer in Utah and moved on to Southern California, where in time he
became famous as "the one who brought fine printing to Southern California."
He designed books. From 1943 on he was the owner of the Castle Press, which
had as its clients, among others, the University of Southern California, the
University of California at Los Angeles, and the Huntington Library of Pasadena.
Bengt Sigurd, ed., D e n o r d i s k a språkens f r a m t i d , Skrifter utgivna av Svenska
språknämnden, 61 (Lund: Esselte Studium, 1977), includes an essay by Nils
Hasselmo of the University of Minnesota on "De nordiska språkens situation i
Nordamerika" (pp. 103-31).
* * *
An article by Nils Hasselmo, "We Learned; Why Can't They?" appeared in the
April 1980 issue of the A u g u s t a n a C o l l e g e M a g a z i n e . It was first presented as the
banquet speech for the SPHS fall meeting at Augustana College, Rock Island,
Illinois, on 22 September 1979.
163